I would fully expect this thread to die of atrophy but maybe there are some folks out there interested in it.
Anyway, I’ve always marginally followed the TDF (newspaper recaps), but this year we have the “outdoor life network” which has daily coverage, so I’ve been following it a bit more.
So, this year is pretty interesting. Of course, Armstrong is going for 6 straight, a record, but he lost two of his big teammates from last year who I’m sure are gunning for him. Ullrich is right there still. This guy Mayo was looking like a legit contender until yesterday.
Yesterday was a pretty instructive day on how guys can lose or gain a lot of time in one day. I never really understood that kind of thing.
If anyone has any basic questions, I might be able to answer them a little.
I actually find a lot of similarities between the stages and watching a NASCAR race at a restrictor plate track. They’re VERY similar, as a matter of fact.
prediction: I expect Armstrong to have the yellow Jersey after today’s race. It’s a “team trial” where the USPS team has been awesome for the last couple years. They have a new rule this year, though, where you can’t get more than 2 minutes on a team. I don’t really think I like that rule. Not only can you not gain as much time as you could in the past, but it might encourage a team falling near the 2-minute down mark to totally dog it. I’d like to think that wouldn’t happend but who knows.
Anyway, after today, I think it starts getting hilly so Armstrong might have it from here on out.